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LONDON (Alliance News) - Gold miner Wishbone Gold PLC said Monday its 2017 loss narrowed marginally despite revenue almost doubling as African operations continue to expand.
In 2017, pretax loss narrowed to USD913,037 from USD958,120 the year prior. This was after sales doubled to USD8.2 million from USD4.3 million the year before. Gross profit increased to USD83,884 from USD20,426 the year before.
Profit performance was helped by a fall in administrative expenses to USD884,602 from USD944,865 the year prior. This was offset, however, by USD31,730 in foreign exchange losses in 2017 from none prior and a more than doubling of finance costs to USD79,001 from USD33,311 the year before.
"2017 has been a year of continued growth for the Wishbone Group," Wishbone Chief Executive Officer Richard Poulden said. "The growth is primarily attributable to the continuing expansion of our operations in Africa. With various initiatives rolling out, and inroads being made in other African nations, I am optimistic about the suitability of our artisanal mining model in the continent."
"As we look ahead, we see opportunities for 2018 in all our areas of operation, namely Central America, Africa and Asia," Poulden added. "The geographic spread is beginning to provide some resilience to our trading and, as we complete the reverse integration process, supplying expertise and equipment to artisanal miners, this will serve to lock up the supply chain to a greater extent and improve margins. With this spread of sources of gold over multiple continents we have a solid trading base for the future."
Shares in Wishbone were 11% lower at 0.26 pence on Monday.